It is a common practice to trim the hair forming a mustache with scissors or with an electric mustache trimmer device. However, it is difficult to shape the upper and lower peripheral edges of a mustache with either a scissors or an electric trimmer. The devices currently available are usually large and cumbersome, and tend to block the view of the mustache edge, thereby making a clean straight cut difficult. The typical shaver or trimmer currently available is gripped in a manner which requires manipulation of the wrist and/or arm in order to effect movement of the device, thus making meticulous trimming of the mustache inherently difficult. Further, many of these devices are relatively complex and expensive. Even for those mustache trimming devices which are simple and/or do not obscure the field of view, it is very difficult to cut a clean straight line along the periphery of the mustache.
Thus, there has been a need for some simple, inexpensive, light-weight device for enabling an individual to easily and accurately shape his own mustache or sideburns by manipulating the device between the forefinger and thumb, and to do so even when the hair is wet and lathered. In addition, it would be desirable to have an instrument which is sufficiently inexpensive so that it may be discarded and replaced when the blade becomes inefficient (i.e., dull). This would enable the user to always have a device with a sharp razor edge whenever it is used, thereby providing optimum cutting and trimming performance.
A number of devices have been designed to shave the face or trim the mustache. Representative U.S. patents include the following: U.S. Pat. No. 778,388 to Warren teaches a razor device with a handle for shaving the face. This disclosure teaches a device for holding a standard safety razor secure to facilitate honing or stropping the blade. U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,448 to Shead discloses a retractable razor blade holder to hold a standard safety razor, thereby serving as a replacement for the straight razor commonly used by barbers and hair cutters. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,003 to Grange discloses a razor that has an improved handle to improve ergonomics and hand control.
There are other razor blade disclosures, beyond those disclosed above, that also disclose a device for shaving and cutting of hair. However, common amongst all of them of which I am aware is a lack of precise control that is needed to safely and conveniently distinctly shape and form the exterior edges of a hairline on a mustache or sideburn.
There are currently many devices that trim and cut hair by using a comb-like device with a sharpened edge interposed between the fingers of the comb. The following patents are representative. U.S. Pat. No. 1,976,290 to Motley teaches a comb type trimmer that has a blade exposed through the teeth of the comb portion. U.S. Pat. No. 2,568,368 to Sayer discloses a haircutting device that has teeth portions to guide and aid in cutting the hair. U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,288 to Donnelly discloses still another comb type safety razor holder that can be used to trim hair while keeping the blade away from the skin by the use of fingers or recesses. While all the aforementioned comb-like devices are sufficient for hair cutting, these devices also lack the ability to come in direct contact with the skin and shave off the hair at the surface of the face. Further, similar to the shavers discussed above, these aforementioned devices are large and cumbersome making minute manipulation very difficult.
Thus, there has been a need for some simple, inexpensive, lightweight device for enabling an individual to easily and accurately shape his own mustache and to do so even when the mustache hair is wet and lathered. The device must be able to effectively remove hair from the mustache at the peripheral edges and be capable of minute manipulation. In addition, it would be desirable to have an instrument which is sufficiently inexpensive so that it may be discarded and replaced frequently.
Further, there is a need to be able to trim the hair of the mustache with precision to form a uniform mustache line at the lip and above the mustache. This requires being able to not only trim the mustache hair but also be able to shave the hair at the skin line.
Therefore, there is still a need for a mustache shaving device which allows a user to precisely shave and shape the hair of his own mustache hair at its peripheral edges, and to easily trim the remaining mustache hairs precisely to any desired length.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a class of mustache shaving devices which meet the foregoing needs and overcome the limitations of earlier mustache shaving or trimming devices.
An object of this invention is to provide a simplified, sharp edged, device which is small in size and lightweight and formed so as to be easily held between the user's thumb and forefinger and easily manipulated by the user for precisely shaving his mustache.
Another object is to provide a small, lightweight fingertip shaver that has a fingertip grip portion positioned to allow the user to see what he is trying to shave and also to be able to shave or trim the hairs of his mustache without having his fingers, which are manipulating the device, come in contact with the face by the hand.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a cutting device that utilizes a miniature razor blade which is considerably smaller than the standard 12 inch (3.8 cm) long razor blade and that allows the user to have a much more sensitive touch when trying to shave the perimeter of his mustache.
Still yet another object of this invention is to provide a shaving device having a miniature cutter head, in which is mounted a thin metal strip having a razor sharp edge, and an integral handle portion which may be gripped between the user's fingertips, and a manually removable and replaceable, plastic cover which fits over, and is frictionally held upon, the cutter head for encasing the sharp edge.
One more object is to provide an accessory for a mustache shaving device which allows a user to easily manually trim his mustache hairs to one of a plurality of lengths predetermined by the size and arrangement of the accessory on the device.